Letter to the Editor

New England Energy Alliance Survey Finds Consumer Concern about Future Electricity Supplies, Desire to Choose Electricity Supplier and Support for Addressing Global Warming

If New England's nuclear energy plants had to be replaced by other non-emitting sources of electricity to meet the RGGI goals, the region would be looking at large-scale wind projects, with weather-dependent output, spread over some 650,000 acres of land or water at a cost of more than $10 billion.

Those supporting the moratorium heavily outnumbered those opposed to the bill. Many traveled from northern parts of the state to explain why they think the wind turbines aren't a good fit for their communities. "When does a private company in search of profit have more rights than the private citizen who owns property in the state of New Hampshire?"

The Select Board voted Monday night to delay the decision whether to accept a $40,000 compensation from Antrim Wind Energy until after the state committee that turned down the project in February releases its final order. ..."It does look like you're taking a bribe," said Kat Affholter.

Following numerous and heated public hearings, the zoning board approved a height variance for a meteorological tower on Tuttle Hill after just more than an hour of deliberation. Chairman John Kendall was the sole negative vote on the variance, which approved the construction of a 196-foot met tower on ridgetop property owned by resident Michael Ott. The decision will be effective at the end of the 30-day appeals period, but resident Richard Block has no intention of letting that happen. "It will be appealed, on a number of levels," said Block after the meeting.

Vermont utility regulators are giving the go-ahead to a plan by the state's two largest electric utilities to buy wind power produced in northern New Hampshire. ...CVPS plans to buy 30.3 percent of the Granite Reliable's output and GMP will purchase 25 percent of the output for 20 years.

Rep. Fred King, a Colebrook Republican and a member of the county planning board, which oversees land use in the unincorporated areas, said the county delegation and commissioners have endorsed the wind project. But, he said, he has made it his "mission in life" to see the transmission line upgraded so biomass plants, which would create more long-term jobs and sustain the region's history of logging, can be built, too. "It's safe to say, if we did get to vote on it and we had the two to pick from (biomass and wind), my guess is we'd probably vote for the biomass plant," he said.